in the campaign “"Military-Popular Administration": the Colonial Regime of the Terek Oblast (1858-1917)”
The oblast was recut in 1862, 1869, 1888 and 1899[1]. From 1 May 1888 the Vedeno and Argun okrugs were merged into the Grozny okrug - under the formula quoted by historian Z. Kh. Ibragimova, "to shield the Cossacks from the 'corrupting' influence of the highlanders"[1]. The Chechen villages on the right bank of the Terek, which were slated for transfer to the Kizlyar and Pyatigorsk otdels (Cossack divisions), were set apart as a special uchastok (sub-district) and temporarily left under the head of the Grozny okrug; the mountain okrugs were divided into uchastoks, while the Cossack otdels were divided by the pattern of manning military units, into sotnias (Cossack hundreds) and regiments[1]. From 1 January 1899 the oblast was recut once more: four otdels - Pyatigorsk, Mozdok, Kizlyar, Sunzha - and four okrugs: Vladikavkaz, Khasav-Yurt, Nalchik, Grozny[1].